Benjamin Katabana

Introduction

Benjamin Katabana is a 28-year-old man convicted of murdering Uchenna Okirie, a 33-year-old fellow resident of his shared accommodation at Somerleyton House in Norwich, in what police described as a “sustained and brutal attack” with a knife in the building’s communal corridor on 22 November 2025. At Norwich Crown Court, Judge Bate passed a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years and said Katabana acted impulsively and resolved issues “through violence”. Katabana had pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility, but the jury rejected that partial defence and convicted him of murder. In one stark detail from the case, Okirie died at the scene at the same time as Katabana handed himself in at a Norwich police station saying: “I have killed someone, I think” .

Background Information

Katabana and Okirie both lived at Somerleyton House, a multi-occupancy residence on Somerleyton Street in Norwich. Okirie, known as Uche, was a University of East Anglia economics graduate; he was pronounced dead shortly after 06:00 GMT, and the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest. The court heard that Katabana had five previous convictions for seven offences, including kicking someone in the head whilst they were on the floor after an assault. His defence told the court that his violent loss of control was due to his traumatic upbringing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of murder after his manslaughter plea was rejected; serving life with a 20-year minimum term.

In the early hours of 22 November 2025, Katabana sent WhatsApp messages to Okirie asking to meet him. CCTV captured the two men coming together in the corridor of the building on Somerleyton Street, where Okirie, who appeared to be using his phone at the time, was attacked. Senior investigating officer Alix Wright of Norfolk Police said Katabana had “deliberately lured Mr Okirie into the corridor through WhatsApp messages where he intended to meet him, having already armed himself with a knife”. Having stabbed Okirie once, Katabana went on to attack him multiple times and kick him in the head, leaving him for dead, face down on the floor, in what police described as a “sustained and brutal attack” .

Katabana then activated the fire alarm at the multi-occupancy residence and made his way through the city to Bethel Street Police Station, where he handed himself in and was arrested. Despite efforts to save him, Okirie died at the scene. At Norwich Crown Court, Katabana pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility, but the jury rejected that plea and convicted him of murder .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Judge Bate said the attack happened in a building that was the victim’s home and that Okirie was “taken by surprise”. “You act impulsively and resolve issues through violence,” Bate told Katabana as he passed the life sentence with its 20-year minimum term. After the verdict, Wright from Norfolk Police said: “This was a violent and unprovoked attack”, and added: “Our thoughts remain with Uche’s family, and we hope this conviction provides them with a measure of justice for their loss.” The force’s account of the killing — a man lured from his own home into a corridor and attacked with a knife he had no way of anticipating — framed the case as among the most serious on the force’s books .

Current Status

Katabana is serving a life sentence for murder with a minimum term of 20 years imposed at Norwich Crown Court. Two case facts stand on record without any account from him: the knife was never recovered, police said, and Katabana answered “no comment” in interviews, giving no explanation for his actions. The murder conviction is the adjudicated outcome of the case, the jury having rejected the diminished-responsibility basis on which he had admitted manslaughter .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The conviction leaves Katabana serving a sentence that keeps him in custody for a minimum of 20 years, with murder — not the manslaughter he had admitted — standing as the jury’s verdict on the killing. The judge’s sentencing remarks tied that outcome to his record: five previous convictions for seven offences, including an assault in which he kicked someone in the head whilst they were on the floor, and a finding that he acts impulsively and resolves issues “through violence”. For Okirie’s family, Norfolk Police said it hoped the conviction would provide “a measure of justice for their loss” .

Sources

• “Man jailed for life for murder in accommodation” — BBC News, 7 August 2026: source